The Million Dollar Habit (Titus 2:11-15)
[11] ♠ God's grace for salvation has been revealed to all [12] ♠ We are nurtured and given up on ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live in this world with sobriety, righteousness, and godliness [13] ♠ Blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, [14] who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify us, that we might become a people zealous for good works. [15] ♠ You shall not be despised by anyone by saying these things, exhorting them, rebuking them with all authority.
Brian Tracy, chairman of the business consulting guru International, said in his book "Million Dollar Habits" that good habits determine a person's future. Millionaires and people who have lived great lives are said to have very similar habits. If a person has a habit that makes them successful, on the other hand, there will also be common habits of a life that fails. He says that good habits can be formed through selection, concentration and repetition. These good habits will be an important factor in living a successful life. I personally think this book should be read at least once. However, I do not fully agree with this article. The Bible does not say that habits can determine our future. This is because habit cannot solve the essential problem of man, sin. Habits, of course, play an important role in changing our lives. However, it cannot solve the problem of sin, which is an essential human problem. It needs something more powerful than that which is beyond habit. In today's text, it is called the power of grace.
Even in the Bible, those who lived a wonderful life lived a life of abandonment. We know the story of Abraham well. He gave his nephew Lot the right to choose the land first. He knew that the things of the visible world were not important, and he knew well what grace was, so he chose to live a life that expects the grace of God invisible rather than the visible world. In Mark 1:18 it is written, “Then they immediately left their nets and followed. The net was their vested right and the right to survive, but they lay down everything and show the image of a true disciple who follows Jesus. In Acts 3:6, Peter performs a miracle of healing the lame in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Even here, what I can't solve is that when we fight, we don't compete with silver and gold, but only in the name of Christ. The Apostle Paul, the author of today's text, said in Philippians 3:8-9 that he regards all the rest as dung, because the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord is the noblest.
You cannot make your life truly powerful with good habits alone. It is possible when we depend on Jesus Christ, who is our grace. Then, what should the lives of those who received grace be like?
You have to live a life of revelation.
In a word, it can be said that it is a high-quality Christian life. Verse 12 says that while we are nurtured, we must put away all ungodliness and worldly lusts and live in this world with soberness, righteousness, and godliness. Self-discipline means that you have to live a life that distinguishes between what you should and shouldn't do. Also, righteousness here means fairness in interpersonal relationships. It means living an equitable life, not a life governed by my emotions. Also, godliness refers to a relationship with God. I pray that the saints will be used with dignity through a fair and devout life by distinguishing what to do well.
Those who have received grace should live a life of expectation.
When you live a life of expectation, you will live a life of blessing. We must live in anticipation of heaven. When we die, we go to heaven. However, since I am longing for Christ in this world now, I earnestly pray that you will be living a life in heaven here.
conclude the word. We must change our lives not through the power of habit, but through the power of grace. The fundamental power is the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. Bonhoeffer says that God's grace is not cheap grace, but expensive grace. If you have sought and experienced cheap grace for me so far, from now on, you will meet the expensive grace of holding on to the cross of Jesus Christ, so I sincerely wish you all the blessings of living victoriously in the days to come.